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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2001)
Water, energy conservation top Council concerns INSIDE: Following a Town Hall meet ing on June 25, Vernonia City Council approved a special residential summer water rate schedule at their July 2 meet ing and is actively pursuing a strategy to reduce the city’s electric usage. The city’s goals, explained Director of Public Works Robyn Bassett at the town hall meet ing, are to eliminate wasted en ergy and utilize resources in a cost-effective manner. While the city may get through this dry year without difficulty, increased water con sumption during the summer also requires increased elec tricity to process the water. If the usual seasonal increase in consumption can be averted, water and electricity will both be conserved and costs will be reduced. Public comments at the town hall included the follow ing: • Let lawns dry out when the weather is hot and dry because they’ll turn green again when it rains. • Water flowers with a con tainer instead of with a sprin kler. • Eliminate car wash fund raisers this summer. • Praise for Vernonia Pride’s decision to use imitation flow ers in public areas this year. • Ask the Fire District to limit volunteers’ use of water to wash their personal vehicles. A suggestion was made that citizens who greatly reduce Affp- Larson The cooling waters of Vernonia’s Rock Creek swimming pool were made even more en ticing by a few days of warm weather. Fire Season restrictions now in place Vernonia man killed in car wreck Robbie Baska, a 22 year-old Vernonia man, was killed in a single vehicle accident shortly before midnight June 30. According to Sandy James, Washington County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, Baska was in the front passenger seat of a car that went off the right shoulder of Highway 47 south of Top Hill, landing about ten feet down. Baska, who was not wearing a seat belt, died of head injuries when the car’s roof was crushed. The car’s driver, 21 year-old Dustin Kofstad, also of Vernon ia, was taken to Emanuel Hos pital with minor injuries and re leased the following day. He was wearing a seat belt. Kofstad’s blood-alcohol was measured at 0.18, according to Sgt. Marlene Gaskins of the sheriff’s office, more than twice the legal limit of .08. Investiga tions are underway by both the sheriff’s office and the Wash ington County District Attor ney’s office. Health News ...................pg- 6 Summertime recipes..... pg. 7 BHS, VHS Honor Rolls...... pg. 8-9 County Fair time.... pg. 10-11 FREE July 5, 2001 Board will seek $14.9 million school bond Summer has arrived... nomah, Tillamook, Yamhill, Co lumbia and Clatsop counties. According to Mike Simek, Protection Unit Forester at Co lumbia City, woods workers are required to have fire prevention and fire fighting equipment at Business Notes.... pg. 4-5 PRESORTED STANDARD U .S . P o s ta g e P a id V e rn o n ia , O R 9 7 0 6 4 P e rm it N o. 37 ‘Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” 16, No 13 Fire season went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July 2 in Northwest Oregon. This in cludes private, state, county and BLM forest lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry in Washington, Mult- water consumption be com mended, and a concern ex pressed that the city’s actions should be more aggressive. The summer water rate schedule applies to residential users only, from July 1 to Sept. 30. The summer rates leaves the basic monthly charge of $28.00 for the first 2,000 gal lons of water used, but limits the $1.25 charge for each addi tional 1,000 gallons of water to a maximum of 1,000 gallons. A Please see page 16 their operation site and provide a watchman on each operation after equipment is shut down. Fire season rules also pro hibit smoking while in or travel ing through any “operation area,” and prohibit the use of fuses and caps for blasting on forest land. In addition, all de bris burning sites and burn bar rels must be inspected and ap proved with a written permit pri or to any burning. Fire season is declared each year based on weather conditions and fire danger. As forest vegetation dries due to warmer temperatures and less rain, fire danger increases. Ex tra precautions need to be tak en by forest users and forest workers to prevent fires from starting, Simek explained. Please see page 12 A recommendation to re place Vernonia’s crowded and deteriorating schools, was adopted by the Vernonia School District Board of Direc tors at their special June 28 meeting, setting the stage for voters to decide in November whether they will support a $14.9 million bond issue. On behalf of the district’s Long Range Facilities Commit tee, Dave Söderström, of Sö derström Architects, presented the innovative proposal - which eliminates the need to purchase additional property - to the school board at their June 7 meeting. Appointed by the school board in February, the commit tee was composed of chairman Dan Brown, other community members Randy Aultman, Re becca Brookins, Chris Cota, Michelle Gilbertson, Rick Gwin, Ralph Keasey, Jim King, Steve Landers, Kari Moeller, Jim Prpich, Jacqueline Ram say and Janelle Serafin, board members Jeff Blum and Tim Ti tus, district personnel Jane Mc Clellan, Larry McClellan, Kirk Sherrill and David VanMeter. The committee’s task was to review the current status of the district’s buildings and develop a recommendation for long range planning. Previous plan reviewed After reviewing a facilities plan that was completed just before the flood in 1996, the committee divided into work groups to study five areas of concern— available/possible sites, educational program ming and grade level align ment, economics and bond costs, marketing and selling strategies, administrative and legal considerations. At about the same time, in order to get some idea of com munity attitudes on school fa cilities, a questionnaire was sent home with students and was also available in a few places around the district. Re turns showed an ovewhelming concern for safety, with 84 per cent of respondents listing it as the primary objective. More than 50 percent also ex pressed support for new school and athletic facilities. Regarding how age/grade levels should be divided (grade level alignment), respondents clearly preferred a configura tion that would place kinder garten through fifth grades, sixth through eighth grades, and ninth through twelfth grades in separate buildings. Seventy-six percent of those who returned the survey indi cated a willingness to support a tax increase for improved school facilities. Seventy-three percent of respondents were parents of current students. Safety becomes focus Meanwhile, engineers sur veyed the structural, electrical and mechanical condition, as well as ADA accessibility, at Washington Grade School and Vernonia High School. The en gineering report revealed the need for major repairs and up grades in all areas in both schools. Mist and Lincoln schools were rejected by the committee early in the process as inadequate for the educa tional program. Although the district has done only minor additions and remodeling since the last school building was construct ed in 1950, the committee ex pressed concern that the com munity was generally unaware of the buildings’ deficiencies. Remodeling performed after the flood was limited by FEMA regulations to replacing what existed prior to the flood. Be- Please see page 12
